A former Chunghwa Telecom customer must pay the company NT$17 million (US$55,903) in damages, after he resold 3,525 mobile phones he had purchased through preferential contracts with the telecom, the New Taipei District Court ruled last week.
The verdict in the civil case came after the man, surnamed Lin (林), was previously sentenced to one year and eight months in prison over the scheme.
Lin began illegally reselling the phones in 2016, after he set up a company that he said was conducting research into wireless charging for iPhones, the court said.
Lin, who was the company’s only employee, registered as a business customer with the telecom, and from April 2016 to August 2017 applied for 1,389 phone numbers through preferential subscription packages for business clients, the court said.
Through the subscription contracts, Lin obtained 3,525 cellphones, including iPhone and Samsung Galaxy models, paying below market prices or receiving them for free, it said.
He resold the phones to vendors and wholesale businesses at low prices, the court said.
During the 15 months, he rejected Chunghwa’s requests to visit his company, saying that he had contracts with the government and the military that do not allow its representatives to visit his premises, the court said.
Lin told the company that he could not facilitate its requests because his company has to safeguard trade secrets, it said.
The telecom became suspicious in September 2017, when Lin started to request repeatedly that the fees of his 30-month subscription packages be changed, the court said.
The telecom suspected that Lin was running a scam and reported him to police, while also filing criminal charges and civil lawsuits, it said.
In the civil case, the court ordered Lin to pay damages of NT$17.64 million, which would accrue an annual interest rate of 5 percent if he does not pay the full amount, the court said.
The previous criminal case also implicated a female employee at the telecom, who was last year sentenced to 16 months in prison for colluding with Lin.
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